Buying a laptop: Advice needed

[Colonel Green]

^ I also had a bad experience with Gateway. I think I'll probably go with Toshiba next time. Every Toshiba product I've ever owned has been excellent. I inherited a mid-80s vintage Toshiba microwave from my grandmother that still works perfectly, and the Toshiba VCR that my parents gave me when I first moved out (they bought it in 1992) only died 3 months ago.

They make good stuff.

 

[DeafPoet]

I've had a couple consecutive Acers and I've had no issues with them breaking down or giving me any hardware troubles whatsoever. They were both about CDN$700 and my only beef was the underpowered on-board graphics cards on them.

But that's not really Acer's fault. They performed fine for what they were. I should have shelled out more cash for something a little more powerful. More my hang-up than theirs.

 

[clint g]

^ I also had a bad experience with Gateway. I think I'll probably go with Toshiba next time. Every Toshiba product I've ever owned has been excellent. I inherited a mid-80s vintage Toshiba microwave from my grandmother that still works perfectly, and the Toshiba VCR that my parents gave me when I first moved out (they bought it in 1992) only died 3 months ago.

They make good stuff.

I've had the opposite experience with Toshiba. While I've never owned one, several friends of mine have and they were nothing but trouble. Most of the issues revolved around the batteries and the chargers. One friend of mine had the metal prong of the charger break off and get stuck inside the computer.


For a quality laptop, I would say go with Asus.

 

[John Picard]

My oldest brother's wife bought him a Toshiba laptop for Christmas about four years ago. I think he's still using it and he absolutely love(d/s) it. I thought it was a slick little machine.

As for Acers -- those are pure shit as well.

 

[Marie1]

I inherited a mid-80s vintage Toshiba microwave from my grandmother that still works perfectly, and the Toshiba VCR that my parents gave me when I first moved out (they bought it in 1992) only died 3 months ago.

They make good stuff.

Agreed... but your stories trump mine!

I've had the opposite experience with Toshiba. While I've never owned one, several friends of mine have and they were nothing but trouble. Most of the issues revolved around the batteries and the chargers. One friend of mine had the metal prong of the charger break off and get stuck inside the computer.

I've had nothing but great quality. What were they doing to get the prong to break off? Cuz I've tripped over my power cord a million times, and that's never happened. My battery may not last as well as when it was new- but I got it in 2007, and use it pretty well all day every day.

 

[Colonel Green]

One friend of mine had the metal prong of the charger break off and get stuck inside the computer.

This is exactly what happened with my Gateway laptop! I didn't drop it or anything, I just went to pull the cord out one day and it snapped in two!

 

[Spot's Meow]

^ I also had a bad experience with Gateway. I think I'll probably go with Toshiba next time. Every Toshiba product I've ever owned has been excellent. I inherited a mid-80s vintage Toshiba microwave from my grandmother that still works perfectly, and the Toshiba VCR that my parents gave me when I first moved out (they bought it in 1992) only died 3 months ago.

They make good stuff.

I've had the opposite experience with Toshiba. While I've never owned one, several friends of mine have and they were nothing but trouble. Most of the issues revolved around the batteries and the chargers. One friend of mine had the metal prong of the charger break off and get stuck inside the computer.


For a quality laptop, I would say go with Asus.

I did have this happen, but it seems like the problem was fixed. It was still under warranty so they replaced the power cord for free and the new one I got was much more reliable. It didn't have the prongs sticking out unprotected so that they gradually get bent and fall off. Also my laptop is from 2004. I would guess that their newer models don't have this issue but I don't really know.

 

[clint g]

I inherited a mid-80s vintage Toshiba microwave from my grandmother that still works perfectly, and the Toshiba VCR that my parents gave me when I first moved out (they bought it in 1992) only died 3 months ago.

They make good stuff.

Agreed... but your stories trump mine!

I've had the opposite experience with Toshiba. While I've never owned one, several friends of mine have and they were nothing but trouble. Most of the issues revolved around the batteries and the chargers. One friend of mine had the metal prong of the charger break off and get stuck inside the computer.

I've had nothing but great quality. What were they doing to get the prong to break off? Cuz I've tripped over my power cord a million times, and that's never happened. My battery may not last as well as when it was new- but I got it in 2007, and use it pretty well all day every day.

They just unplugged the thing one day and it came off. I also had another friend where the battery casing split open As such, I've never really trusted them

I did have this happen, but it seems like the problem was fixed. It was still under warranty so they replaced the power cord for free and the new one I got was much more reliable. It didn't have the prongs sticking out unprotected so that they gradually get bent and fall off. Also my laptop is from 2004. I would guess that their newer models don't have this issue but I don't really know.

It's entirely possible that they've stepped up their game since then. This was around 2004-2006 when these things were happening so who knows

 

[Marie1]

I inherited a mid-80s vintage Toshiba microwave from my grandmother that still works perfectly, and the Toshiba VCR that my parents gave me when I first moved out (they bought it in 1992) only died 3 months ago.

They make good stuff.

Agreed... but your stories trump mine!

I've had nothing but great quality. What were they doing to get the prong to break off? Cuz I've tripped over my power cord a million times, and that's never happened. My battery may not last as well as when it was new- but I got it in 2007, and use it pretty well all day every day.

They just unplugged the thing one day and it came off. I also had another friend where the battery casing split open As such, I've never really trusted them

Whoa...
I would think that was a bit of fluke... I hope! Try not to die dude!